PHIL 268:Science in the Public Eye

Fall 2018Mondays 7–9:52 PM

Science has changed markedly over the decades (and centuries). It has deeply influenced our lives and is poised to continue to do so. Yet there are many myths and misconceptions about how science works. Public opinion is mixed about whether scientists deserve our trust. On the one hand, scientists are generally held in high esteem and there is a lot of enthusiasm about science; on the other hand, large segments of Americans reject the scientific consensus on such matters as climate change, evolution, the safety of childhood vaccines, risks posed by genetic engineering, and so on. Surprisingly, this seems to have less to do with a general lack of scientific literacy than one might expect.

This course is part of an ongoing, collaborative research project, The Production of Public Understanding of Science Project (currently funded by the National Science Foundation), and will be run as a collaborative research seminar. Our approach will be both humanistic (historical and philosophical) and social scientific (involving sociology, anthropology, cognitive psychology, and communications). Students will have the opportunity to engage in original research designed to deepen our understanding of the way the public perceives science, how scientific results might be best communicated, and what it is (if anything) about the nature of science that makes it deserving of our respect.

Note: Officially, the pre-requisite for the course is PHIL 100 or permission; but because I want the course to be open to a wide-range of students, I will be granting permission to students who are interested in actively investigating the public's relationship to science.